Telecom Outlook Report Published

CHICAGO -- Current upheaval resulting from technological change and the worldwide economic downturn has engendered great uncertainty in the global telecommunications industry. In this environment, one of the more important questions is how can telecom companies best position themselves to take advantage of market opportunities? The Telecom Outlook Report: Millennial Edition (TOR), a new report published by the International Engineering Consortium and compiled by researchers in the fields of economics, business, and finance at the University of Southern California's Center for Telecom Management in the Marshall School of Business, with the input and participation of industry executives and professionals, sheds light on this and other fundamental questions. Among the key findings presented in the TOR is the prediction that broadband access to the residential consumer will grow slowly over the next two years. The report cites installation issues as a principal challenge to digital subscriber line (DSL) growth, while high costs for infrastructure are identified as a prime challenge to cable-modem growth. Also, business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce is not expected to grow substantially into 2002, although revenues are projected to reach approximately $144.6 billion by 2004. On the business-to-business (B2B) side, the ability to integrate technology with organizational processes will affect B2B commerce in the near term. The projection for B2B revenues in 2004 is about $881 billion. "(The) Telecom Outlook Report provides a timely and comprehensive perspective on the state and direction of the industry. It is an invaluable reference for anyone formulating business and investment strategy," says Casimir Skrzypczak, Former Senior Vice President, Cisco Systems.International Engineering Consortium (IEC)